Cushioning flow fitting for oil wells



M. 1. TRUM'B'LE. l CUSHIONING FLOW- FITTING FOR OIL WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I5. 1920. A

1,436,417, y Paten@ NOLIZL 1922..

Patented Nov. 21, 1922.

Masai PA T E F MILON J'. TR'UMBLE, vOlli' ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA.

CUSHICNING FLOW FITTING FOR OIL WELLS.

Application ined May15,

To all whom t may (zo/afferra:l

1de it known that I, MILoN J. TRUMBLE, a c1t1zen of the United States, residing at Alhambra, in the county of LosV Angeles well, sand and shale is thrown out therebyy creating or forming a cavity in the bottom of the well the walls of which are liable to cave in thereby sealing the bottom of the well pipe, so that the life of the well is prematurely terminated.' Nipples having. a reduced oriiice have heretofore been placed in the discharge line to hold the pressure on the well but have been unsatisfactory due to the fact that the sand and grit carried by the oil cuts the walls of the orifice in the nipple until the orifice is enlarged'to such an extent that in a very short time the ow is increased, resulting in the well getting from under control and blo-wing itself Vtov out.l Ordinary valves placed in the line in additionto the nipple do notremedy the fault as it frequently happens .that the destruction 4of the nipple by the sand occurs when no one is on duty looking after the well, and the sand carried by the oil erodes the valve and soon wears or cuts the same out so that no control is had over the flow of oil from the well.l IFor that reason a line equipped with both an ordinary valve and nipple is at times wholly insuiiicient in controllingthe How of oil. I

My invention comprises the combination of a head provided with suitable perforatins arranged therein and extending there- A through whereby pass from one slde of such head to the op oil may be permitted to posite side thereof, and suitable valve means arranged in and carried by such head .to

control the passage of oil through such perforations and means on one side o f such head adapted and arranged to engage with a conducting pipe conveying oil from a well to such head and means arranged upon the opposite side thereof adapted to` engage 1920. serial No. 381,785.

with a conducting pipe arranged to convey oil away from such head.

The principal object of my invention is to produce a fitting adapted to be placed in the line of standard pipingcommonly used f or conducting oil from'the well, such fitting being of simple form and construction and having the parts thereof so arranged that a stream of oil flowing through the same vis directed against and cushioned upon a body of oil to prevent the cutting out of the oil outlet.

A further object of my invention is toproduce a device o-f the character described adapted to be placed in the conducting or discharge line of a well, and so arranged and constructed that the oil passing through the line may be divided into one or more streams of diii'erentsizes, each o-f said streams being directed in sucha manner that they are each cushioned during their flow through the device.

A further object of my invention is to `produce a device of the character described illustrative purposes only,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the upper end of the casing of an oil well showing the discharge line and a device in such discharge line embodying a form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is, a vertical cross sectional view through the. device sho-wn in Fig. 1.

Fig. -3 is a vertical cross-sectional view on line 3 3, 'Fig. 2. v

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on line 4 4, Fig. 2.

11 designates the top of a casing such as found in the ordinary oil well, to which is threaded a T .12. A short pipe 13 is threaded into the top ofthe T andis provided with a valve 14'.y The branch 15 of the T has threaded thereinto one end of a pipe 16, lsuch pipe being providedwith a gate valve 17. The outer end of the pipe 16 is threaded into the inlet end 18 of theiitting 19, al

chamber 20 being formed on the end 18 which receives the oil from the pipe 16. Longitudinally extending into the body of fitting 19 from the chamber 2Q is a plurality of openings 21, 22, 23 and 24.

Arranged centrally in the body of the fitting is an 'expansion chamber 425 closed at its inner end and opening at its outer end into a discharge pipe 26 threaded into the discharge end of the fitting.V Radially extending outwardly from the chamber 25 is a plurality of ducts or passages 31,132, 33 and 34. Each of these passages crosses the path of one of the openings heretofore de- `scribed and affords a communication from its associated opening to the expansion chamber; the openings 21 to 24 inclusive and the ducts 31 to 34 inclusive together form channels of different dimensions through which the oil passes from the inlet to the discharge end of the fitting.

The ducts are each provided with a valve seat, numbered respectively 35, 36, 37 and 38, arranged to co-act With 41, 42, 43 and 44 respectively. Each of such needle valves is threaded into the fitting and is provided at its outer end With suitable hand operating means 46. Provision is made whereby a quick adjustment of each.

needle valve may be made, Which consists of a nut 47 on each`valve, such nut being provided vvith a handle 48, the nut being seated against the outer end of a boss or eXtension 49 through which the valve member extends.

It is to be particularly noted that the inner or closed end of each opening beyond its communication through its associated duct tothe chamber forms a pocket 50 and that the ducts 31 to 34E/inclusive are arranged -opposite each other, the arrangement lof such pockets andV openings being for the purposemore fully pointed out hereinafter.

The device operates in the following manner:

Assuming that the Well has started to flow under considerable pressure, the valve 14 is closed and valve 17 opened thereby permit ting the oil to flow through the pipe 16 into the chamber 2() in the fitting. From the chamber 20 the oil Will flow into each and all of the openings 21 to 24, inclusive, the

associated duct of which is open, that is,

such openings in which the needle valve has been moved/away from the seat. The oil in the chamber 20, carrying with vit particles of sand, passes through the openings 21 to 24, inclusive, that is, assuming that all ofthe valves are open, and cushions itself againstthe oil in the pockets 50. The oil then fioWs from the openings through the needle valves ducts 31 to 34, inclusive, into the expansion chamber. 25 and as the streams of oil enter such chamber, the openings being directly opposite each other, the streams meet and cushion against each other. The oil passing from the expansion chamber 25 is again permitted to expand and decrease its velocity as it enters the pipe 26 due tothe fact that the pipe 26 is of much larger diameter than the expansion chamber.

The result of permitting the oil to impinge against the pools of oil in the po'ckets and in the chamber 25, as heretofore described, is that the grit and sand is not directed against the metal of the fitting and for that reason does not eat into the metal and destroy the device. In the event that foreign material accumulates in the chamber 20, vsuch material may be discharged through a pipe 52, provided With a suitable valve 53. Further, the valves of the fitting may be adjusted individually or collectively to maintain the flow under any certain desired pressure, the pressure of the oilpentering the fitting being indicated by a gauge 55 Which is connected by a pipe 56 With the interior of the chamber 20. l

By'regul ating the flow of the Well as above described the pressure orhead on the well is controlled at nearly normal condition under which circumstances the Walls of the Well remain intact and the oil supply is maintained through the fiow of oil from the surrounding formation into the Well.

I claim as my invention 1. A flow regulating device for oilvvells through which the oil from the Well is discharged, comprising a fitting in the discharge pipe having an expansion chamber, and a passage connecting Ithe expansion chamber to the inlet end of the fitting, said passage havin a pocket formed therein adapted to retain a body of oil against which the incoming oil is directed.

2. A flow regulating device for oil Wells through which the oil from the Well is discharged comprising a fitting in the disv charge pipe having an expansion chamber, said chamber having a radially extending duct having a valve seat therein, a valve member co-acting with said seat said duct communicating With a longitudinali Y extending opening communicating with t e in- 

